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No. 609,075. Patented Aug. I6, I898. E. B. BENHAM &-. H. E. BARLDW.

MACHINE FDR MAKING TOOTHPICKS.

(Application fiIecl Mar. 31, 1897.) (No Model.) 2 Shaetw-Sheei l.

WITNESSES. .IIVVENTOTPS.

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No. 609,075. Patented Aug. I6, I898.

E. B. BENHAM & H. E. BARLOW.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TOOTHPICKS.

(Application filed Mar. 31, 1897.)

2 Shegts-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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FFICEQ ELIJAII BAILEY BENI'IAM, OF MYSTIC, CONNECTICUT, AND HOWARD E.BARLOW, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND; SAID BARLO vV ASSIGNOR TO FRANK F.TRIPP, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TOOTHPICKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 609,075, dated August16, 1898. Application filed March 31, 1897. Serial No. 630,099. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ELIJAH BAILEY BEN HAM, residing at Mystic, in thecounty of New London and State of Connecticut,and HOW- ARD E.BARLoW,.residing at Providence, in the county of Providenceand State ofRhode Island, citizens of the United States of America, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Toothpicks, of whichthe following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a machine for makingtoothpicks of wood or like material, neatly formed and havingproperly-shaped points, all finished and polished as they come from themachine. It is fully explained and illustrated in this specification andthe accompanying drawings.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a frontelevation of the machine. Fig. 2 shows an elevation of the right side ofthe machine. Fig. 3 shows an end view of the grooved cutting-rolls andthe supporting or backing devices to hold the wood while being cut withthe feed and polishing rolls, the side frame being removed. Fig. 4;represents one of the plates of wood that are fed to the machine. Fig. 5represents a finished toothpick.

The machine is constructed of two vertical side framesAA, bolted to aplatform 0. Between these side frames the greater part of the mechanismis held, the shafts extending from one frame to the other and havingbearings in both frames.

A table F is held between the two frames at the front, and twocutter-rolls P P extend across the machine and are held in hearings oneach side frame, the lower roll P being placed a little farther in fromthe front than the upper roll P to admit of supports or backers g 9being held one above one of the rolls and the other below the otherroll.

The cutting-rolls-P P are made with semicircular grooves running aroundthem close together, making sharp edges between them. These grooves aremade to the depth of about one-half the thickness of the plates of woodthat are used to make the toothpicks. The rolls P P have also \l-shapedscorers made lengthwise in them to form cutting-teeth.

The outer cuttingroll P has a support g under it to hold the woodo whilethe teeth of the roll over it are cutting the grooves in the upper sideof it. i

' The support 9 is stationary; but the bearings of the roll P are mademovable vertically,

and a spiral spring 3, Fig. 2, at each end presses the roll up when itis not pushed down by the levers d, that are pivoted tothe side framesand have one end resting on the bearing of the roll and their other endson cams R B, so shaped as to push the roll down at the proper time.

The cutter-roll P has a movable support g for the wood, held in waysabove it, and the bearing a. of the roll is made movable, and a spiralsprings is placed between the bearing 6 and the support g to press thebearing down and the support up when not pushed in the contrarydirection by the levers d d d bearing on the cams R R.

The cutting-rolls P P are driven at a high speed by belts from a shaftoverhead, running on the pulleys h h.

A platen j is placed to slide on the table F to push the piece of wood ain between the rolls P P, and it receives a reciprocating mo tion in andout by means of levers n n, pivoted to stand on theunder side of theplaten and connected at their lower ends to the outer ends of levers pp, which are held in bearings on the frame A, Fig. 1.

A rod J connects the lever n to a crank '11, fast on a shaft G, held ina long bearing in one of the side frames A. (See Figs. 1 and 2.)

D is the main shaft, with a driving-pulley B made fast on one end. Thisshaft D also holds the upper polishing-roll H, and the polishing-roll His held in bearings in the side frames below, and the two rolls aregeared together by the wheels N, fast on their shafts outside the frame.

A pair of feed-rolls T T are placed between the cutter-rolls and thepolishing-rolls H to push the picks into the polishing-rolls, andanother pair of feed-rolls S S are placed on the other side of thepolishing-rolls to' draw them clear through the rolls.

The shafts of the feed-rolls T T carry the cams R R, that move thelevers to adjust the cutting-rolls and the wood-supports. Each pair offeed-rolls T and S are geared together by gears 19 b and are geared tothe polishing-roll by the gearsfff.

The polishing-rolls H H are covered with felt y or other suitablematerial and made hollow to be heated by steam through a hollowjournal.(See section of coupling K, Fig. 1.) K is a T-coupling withstuffing-boxes M M, one at each end, and D the hollow shaft. A pipe mconnects the coupling with a like arrangement for heating the upper rollH, and pipe m connects with a source of steamsupply.

The feed-rolls T T are covered with rubber or other suitable material totake a firm hold on the splints.

The operation of making the toothpicks with the machine is as follows:The wood is previously prepared by being cut up into plates a, as seenin Fig. 4, of the length, grainwise, and thickness of the intendedtoothpicks when finished and having one end made with a bevel, as at 2.These plates 01. are fed into the machine in advance of the platen jwhen clear out and pushed by it, by the action of the crank o and rod Jand lever n, in between the roll 1? and the support g, where the upperside of the wood is scored by the cutter-teeth as by a reeding-plane.Then the wood enters between the roll P and the support g and the underside is scored in like manner, and the scores meeting in the wood it iscut up into separate round splints. When the wood is about half-way bythe roll P, the roll begins to descend by the action of the cam R on thelever cl and gradually to thin the wood away toward the end. As theunder side of the wood is still straight, the support g does not need torise; but when the roll P begins in like manner to rise and thin awaythe under side of the wood, as the upper side is already tapered away bythe roll P, it is necessary for the support g to descend a like distanceto properly support the wood against the cutting-roll and make goodwork. This is done by the cams R R and levers d d.

Between the two rolls a perfectly-tapering point is made, as seen inFig. 5. As the splints leave the roll P they are caught between thefeed-rolls T and pushed in between the polishing-rolls H H, and on theother side are caught between the feed-rolls T, drawn out, and deliveredin a perfectly-finished condition.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to securebyLetters Patent, is v 1'. In a machine for making toothpicks, means forforming a tapered point consisting of rotary cutters for operating onthe pick on opposite sides thereof, and at different times,backing-blocks opposite said cutters, one of said blocks being movabletoward the cutter opposite it, feed-rolls located in operative relationto said rotary cutters for moving said picks longitudinally through themachine, and means for variably moving the cutters in directionstransverse to said longitudinal movement and against said picks,combined with suitable driving mechanism for said outters and rolls, andmeans for moving said backing-block toward said cutter, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination with a series ofrotary cutterblades having transversely-corrugated edges for bothseparating the picks and finishing them upon opposite sides, andalternately disposed in relation to each other, and means foralternately moving said cutters automatically through the action of themachine alternately against opposite sides of the picks, of feedingmechanism operatively located near said cutters and rolls, forsuccessively feeding strips of wood thereto, and means for rotating saidcutters and rolls, and imparting movements to said feed mechanismsubstantially as described.

ELIJ AH BAILEY BENHAM. I-IOXVARD E. BARLOVV. Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, K. I. OLEMoNs.

